


Talk

by testedcyberneticz



Category: SteamWorld Heist (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Memory Loss, Memory Related, Or more dealing with it anyway, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-04-03 17:28:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21491482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/testedcyberneticz/pseuds/testedcyberneticz
Summary: When your memories are suppressed, they come back eventually.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	Talk

**Author's Note:**

> Hi mom friend Piper is super good and it's all I write in every Heist fic but too bad..... Indulgence

"Do you need to talk about it at all?" Were the words that came from Piper. 

"You're my captain, not my mom." Was the response Fen gave at those words. Their voice had lost their usual tone of being blunt in unwilling favor for a tone that sounded more upset and very slightly more drawn out than usual. 

"You don't even have one of those. You also don't... usually act like this." She was somewhat right, entirely so, even. They had been very open about telling Piper their horrific and traumatic memories that had been pushed down both by trauma and a simple thing called, "severe memory loss," which was not fun no matter what tone you said it in. They had even talked about the fact they had witnessed Earth crumble and die next to the very source of it. In somewhat recent times, their memory was still improving. Which was a good idea, but then their memory improving didn't only mean good memories. In fact, it seemed to be exclusively made of horrific ones, and at this point they were wondering if they just had a very horrible life. Either way, they had to run out of bad memories and get some old ones that were actually good, didn't they? They can't have all bad memories before joining the crew, right? 

Even so, the fact they were digging their face into Piper's shoulder, which was rather uncomfortable, probably wasn't making their situation seem any less concerning. Which they probably should've thought through before trying to brush it off. 

To put it in simple terms, a memory had shown itself, and it wasn't nice. None of them were nice in the first place, but it eventually got less shocking and more just depressing. This new memory, they were pretty sure took place directly in Vectron. They noted that one, Vectron really never changed, and two, Vectron had too much glowing red and blue and it annoyed them. There was so much metal chrome that if it wasn't absolutely freezing down there to the point most things were covered in frost, they would probably be able to see their reflection. But they couldn't, but they also couldn't move their arms. Or see them, for that matter. And then something sharp cracked through their body very painfully, and that was the end. 

They never expected to be able to remember it so clearly. Sure, seeing that one Vectron ship gave them both a feeling of dread and homesickness, but that had been it. No prior memories of Vectron had existed, and they preferred it that way. The fact their mind that was absolutely buried in memory issues, saw that ship and said, "No, I don't like that," was more or less a huge red flag. And maybe, if they didn't remember how it used to be like, they would be happier and better well off. 

But apparently their mind wasn't happy with being happy. They had thought that memory a dream at first, only to remember it's impossible for them to dream. That was more a steambot thing, and their head was not steambot, no matter how much they secretly wished that was the case. They were about half steambot, but that was it. Either way, that memory felt too real, and they didn't doubt that it was real. They just wished their life wasn't filled so much with getting beat up when they couldn't do anything. When they had a gun or were able to even move, they were fine. They had a chance, and it was fun! But when they were reduced to something similar to that of a brick, it was a festival of anxiety, and of course pain. They winced at remember the sharp feeling. 

"I'm sick." They lied as smoothly as a severely cracked street road that then had an earthquake happen right in the center of the road. Piper returned with an expression of worry, because anyone with a working furnace could tell Fen was lying. Fen's screen had less blue glow as their eyes stayed in a wincing expression instead of their usual two rectangles. 

"Usually I wouldn't force it out of someone," She absentmindedly adjusted her hat, "But you've been like this for several hours and it's getting concerning." Getting concerning was an understatement. It already was concerning. 

Fen hearing the word, "hours," come up made their eyes widen and their head attachments bend downward. They hadn't exactly been keeping track of time. In fact, in their opinion time shouldn't even move that fast, but that was for another day. What mattered now was that apparently they've been doing this for a long time, and they weren't exactly happy with that. 

"How many?" Hearing their voice shake and crack immediately made them regret speaking at all. 

"Four." 

Great. Just great. 

Maybe they should open up because in these four hours their mood has just been going into a downward spiral with no end. Every thought has been building up and so has the stress along with it. But at the same time, they didn't even want to repeat it. They didn't want to admit they had remembered something like that, they wanted to ignore it. Pretend it never happened, no matter how much it builds up and writhes inside their thoughts, no matter how much it hurts, because it might hurt more to let it out. 

"Fen." Piper's voice cut through their thoughts, only to realize their screen was nearly simulating crying. That was the last thing they wanted. They finally lifted their head from her shoulder, but in a way that made them look ready to fall to the floor. 

"I remembered Vectron," Getting it out was already a huge struggle, and they had only said three words so far, "before Earth was destroyed I think. And... I didn't have any control. And then something struck me, and it hurt." They were terrible at explaining, weren't they. Then again, they were leaving so many details out, "And I know that if I remembered this,_ I'll remember more_." 

Piper was silent for awhile. 

"At the least you won't ever even be close to Vectron again. It's dead. You even put some bullets in. Even if you do remember, you can't really stop it, so it's best to embrace it and use it to make sure it doesn't happen... Again." At the last part she trailed off for a second and her voice grew somber. She could clearly see the gears, or wires, clicking in Fen's mind. 

"Thank you, Captain." They said after several moments of silencd. Fen understood what she meant, and they felt something heavy lift from their shoulders. Maybe they could address the other issues later, actually. 


End file.
